Students will be doing their rough drafts in their Reader’s Notebook for all five Text Structures. During the Independent Practice portion of Reader’s Workshop, it is a good idea to check in with students, either one-on-one or in small groups to make sure they are on track, that their paragraph makes sense with Compare and Contrast, and help them revise and edit their writing so it is ready for the final product, which will be completed at the end of the unit.

Revising with Students

Conferences: Revising with Students

Text Structures: Time to write – Compare and Contrast

Text Structures: Time to write – Compare and Contrast

Unit 21: Text Structures Unit
Lesson 15 of 21

Objective: SWBAT apply their understanding of the Compare and Contrast Text Structure by using it to write a paragraph.

This is day fifteen of a four week unit where students will first become familiar with the five Text Structures, then identify each of them in new text, and finally apply each of them in their writing. In this phase of the unit, students have had exposure to the definition of Text Structures and have identified them within new text. Therefore, they are ready to write their own examples, which will be compiled into their very own “Scholastic News – Text Structures Edition” as a final product for the unit. After identifying each, this is the next stage of the scaffolding process: application.

Connection: I always start by connecting today’s lesson to something kids have previously learned so that it triggers their schema and background knowledge. Since they’ve been working on Text Structures for several weeks, I remind them that a Text Structure is how the information within a written text is organized.

Teaching Point: This is when I tell kids explicitly what we will be working on. I say, “Today, you will do your writing for the Compare and Contrast portion of your very own Scholastic News. You’ve already planned your topic and now it is time to turn the idea into a high quality, detailed paragraph that is organized in a way that compares two or more things. Here is my example. Keep in mind that my Scholastic News is going to be all about exercise.” Show my example:

Although they are very different, kickboxing and yoga are two favorable ways to exercise. Kickboxing is a high impact, high energy workout that makes you sweat. It is usually accompanied by loud, fast paced music to keep you moving on your feet. Yoga, on the other hand, is a low impact workout in a peaceful environment that makes your muscles stretch. There is soft music playing and lights are dim to keep you calm and relaxed. Both exercises are great for your body and give you lots of energy. Whether you choose kickboxing or yoga to get into shape, you will feel better after every workout.

Active Engagement: This is where students get to try out the strategy that we are working on. I ask them to think about the idea they chose for Compare and Contrast and talk through what they will write with their partners. Then I call on a few students to share with the whole group.

Link to Ongoing Work: During this portion of the mini-lesson, I give the students a task that they will focus on during Independent Reading time. Now that they’ve talked through their idea, their job is to write it in paragraph form in their Reader’s Notebooks as a rough draft. They need to make sure to describe differences and similarities between two things within their paragraph so it matches the Compare and Contrast Text Structure.

Resources

Transition Time: Every day after the mini-lesson, students get 5 minutes of Prep Time to choose new books (if needed), find a comfy spot, use the bathroom, and anything else they might need to do to prepare for 40 minutes of uninterrupted Independent Reading.

Guided Practice: Today, I would be conferencing with students right at their comfy spots and asking them to share their topic of choice. I will help them craft their paragraph for the Compare and Contrast Text Structure if they need it.

At the end of 40 minutes, I remind students that their job during reading time was to complete a paragraph using the Compare and Contrast Text Structure about something related to their main topic. Once students gather at the carpet with their assignment, we share some of their writing. I then tell them that we will continue our Text Structure work tomorrow. Reader’s Workshop has come to an end.

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Big Idea:
Students will be able to classify objects that have common attributes using a comparison circle. They will analyze the relationships of the objects to determine that they all produce heat through burning.